Ascent Group LLC Cuts Position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)

Ascent Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,920 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,829 shares during the quarter. Procter & Gamble accounts for about 0.8% of Ascent Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $10,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,230,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,477 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 114.9% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,568,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907,716 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the first quarter worth about $233,788,000. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the first quarter worth about $228,212,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 24.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,560,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $902,254,000 after buying an additional 1,089,102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.89.

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $173.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $170.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $177.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,657,210. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total transaction of $12,342,475.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $573,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,210. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.